I've been gushing to all my RL friends about this game for a couple years, but Crosscode is a game everyone should look at and try. It does have a demo on steam but the demo is disgustingly short, doesn't even include the full tutorial! However I describe the game like:
Top down action combat like the Ys series (with a balance between melee and projectiles)
Dungeons more focused on puzzle mechanics than Ys like Zelda games.
A idealistic sci-fi futuristic setting instead of post apocalyptic or whatever like Phantasy Star.
and a story gimmick thing that's pretty new. The protagonist isn't silent, but they have a very limited vocabulary due to an in-game-in-game glitch which is often the hook for some pretty comical dialogues, but expanded on with careful use of facial expressions for the dialogue sprites.
The music IMO is on point, and the gameplay is quite possibly the best in a top down action game, hard to say. I like the challenge level too, it's just right, with harder options available via NG+. Many players think it's too hard, but it has a easy slider if you want.
Only con I can think of is the interesting jumping mechanics. It can be frustrating at times, but I kinda enjoy it. It's just important to know to shoot at a ledge if you aren't sure you can jump to it, obviously if your shot hits the wall or bounces back, it's too high. Yeah, it's a 2d game, not 2.5d, with 3d ledges you jump to. It can be visually impossible to tell how high certain platforms are at times, but it kinda has its own charm that way.
